DOB
by chrysalis escapist
Summary: They'd do everything to make the other one happy, especially on a special day. Mac/Stella
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: no, still don't own them … and don't really own the story idea either, that was **_**svufan4ever's**_** suggestion :)**

**Since it's my birthday I thought it might be a good idea to post this today ;)**

Mac's POV

There's only a handful of people on the street as I drive along. I can't help wondering what they are up to. Hoping that they are on their way home or to work, hoping that they will arrive safely. I wish nobody would get killed today, nobody would commit a crime. The same I wish every day, but maybe a little more today. It would just be nice if today all deaths that we have to look into turned out to be accidents.

Only a handful of people, too early for more, or too late, depending on how you look at it. For me it's neither. 5:23am is what the clock in my car says. Okay, so I am a little bit tired, but it's not like I'm not used to it, I have definitely been getting too little sleep for much worse reasons. It will be worth it, I hope.

I park the car and open the door. I take a deep breath; the air is crisp and could probably even be considered clean. At least it feels cleaner than at practically any other time of day. A starlit sky, I enjoy the brief walk through comparative darkness and silence. Looking up at her window I see that there is no light, as I had hoped, good to know that I'm in time, good to know that she's still asleep. She should be, at this time. For a brief moment I wonder if I should wait outside but for standing around it is a bit too cold. I don't want to walk around either, don't want to miss when she turns on the light.

My fingers glide over metal, warm in my pockets. Her keys, I have no intention to use them but ever since Frankie I've always had them on me. Praying that I will never need them. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I don't want to use them. A reminder, I remember too well how I had felt, sitting on her bed while she was lying in a hospital bed. Like an intruder, because of someone who couldn't take 'no' for an answer. And despite knowing that she was alive and that she'd get up again I couldn't feel relief, somehow I still can't. Every time I remember it, it kind of stirs up a black cloud. I want to keep it away from her. The memory of her rule is spinning in my head.

I want to make her happy, and I'd leave if that's what it takes. But I hope it isn't. I hope she won't send me away. I stand in the almost dark before her door and begin to wonder if this really is a good idea. I don't want her to be alone. Ever, but particularly not today. I wonder what it's like to celebrate one's birthday in an orphanage. She's never talked much about the orphanage, but I'm guessing that all the children would participate, whether you wanted them to or not. Did she have any friends 'outside' that she could invite? Did she have a choice at all whom she'd invite?

I think back, as outgoing as Stella is, as quiet she becomes on her birthdays. No less lively at work, it's just that … somehow she doesn't seem to want to celebrate. No special day for her, no special treatment for her. Though I'm pretty sure she won't mind that I plan to keep her away from the paperwork all day today. The thought makes me smile; I hope that means that it's a good idea.

I hope being here is a good idea too. Wish this were something I could look into scientifically and get a clear answer. A mass spectrometry of emotions would be great. Stella is so much better when it comes to gut instincts. My marine instincts don't exactly apply here. They don't even apply when I'm in a battle with Stella. I hope being here won't get me into one. No, I guess good intentions will count for something.

But what if it upsets her, or makes her sad? God knows that I don't want to make her sad, and I guess she knows too but is that going to help? Damn, it seemed like a good idea all of this week, but now – standing and waiting in the greenish darkness, with nothing to do but to think, and look for a strip of light that will sooner or later appear on the floor before me. Though I want her to sleep as long as possible I find myself hoping it will be sooner. Before I change my mind and turn around.

No, I'm not going to chicken out. The worst that can happen is that she'll take my offerings and then close the door. No, the worst that can happen is that she won't take my offerings … that I'll upset her because she doesn't want anything special … that I'll make her sad because I remind her of something. Damn. No, I'm here, I'll stay. Bet she'd find out that I was here anyway.

I almost jump when the slit of light under her door flares up. I could still back out. I take a deep breath, maybe there's some of her determination in the air. My knuckles find the door, beat a rhythm into it, a rhythm I know she'll recognize. Answered by silence. I strain my ears, I might imagine soft footsteps. Then I see a slight change in the pattern of the band of light. The shadow of her feet separating it into three parts of equal length. Another movement, and the part in the middle is shorter. Call it wishful thinking but it sure looks like she just said 'o-kay' in Morse code.

And the door opens. I see the surprise in her face make room for a smile. And the night's stars still twinkling softly in her eyes. It was worth it. "Happy birthday." I say, not particularly original, I know. I say it in Greek too and her smile deepens, bordering on a grin, guess I have to work on my pronunciation. I hold out the basket I'm carrying. "I thought I'd bring you breakfast." Obviously. Oh well, but this isn't about eloquence.

Though her smile is eloquent. And her hand on my arm as she bends over the basket, casting a quick look inside before I feel her warm lips on my cheek, her murmured 'thank you' in my ears. She pulls away, "I hope you brought enough for two." I can only nod as she pulls me inside.

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Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review if you did, and if you didn't, let me know what I could do better. All comments are appreciated any time, and all logged reviews replied to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, many thanks for all the lovely reviews, the alerting, favoriting, and the birthday wishes :). Also thanks to **_**didi**_**, sorry I couldn't send a proper reply.**

**I can't quite believe I joined this site a year ago :). ****Hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day.**

Stella's POV

I don't try to contain my smile. He knows I'm up to something anyway, even though he doesn't see it because he's in another room. I check my watch, still some time left. I use it to let my thoughts wander while we work the scene. Yeah, scene, not even I thought it possible to convince Mac not to work in the field tonight, though I did try. I'm glad I succeeded in getting on the same case with him so at least we're working together. I could have called him on his cell of course, but that's not the same, no, I want to be there. And I'm grateful nobody died here. It wouldn't have felt right to congratulate Mac on his birthday around where somebody has died.

Or rather wish him a happy birthday. Because why congratulate someone for something that he hasn't achieved but that is just a biological fact. As Mac said, the congratulations should go to his mother. I sent her flowers, and a thank you for having him. For which I'm really glad. I can congratulate him for being such a wonderful friend. And I will.

He may not think that his birthday is anything special, worth celebrating. Actually we're pretty much alike in that, and have been for a long time, because even when Claire was still alive … well, Mac would do something with her of course, have a nice birthday dinner or a day out. And sometimes we'd all go for a drink, but nothing more. I remember going to his apartment two years ago to bring him his present because he wouldn't have a party. And in the end I'm glad I did. Who knows if Reed would have come into his life otherwise, and I feel that it does Mac good to have him around.

And Mac's birthday is something special. It is a special day, because, let's face it, where would we be, where would New York be without him? I don't want to know. I don't want to think about how many mistakes he's kept me from making. Better not think about how I've thanked him most of the time either. I vow not to get annoyed with him, and not to annoy him. Would be great if I could manage that a whole year. He'd deserve it, not just on his birthday.

I remember my birthday. How I had felt, how he had made me feel. Special, yeah, and at the same time not, no fuss. It had just felt so good to have him around, and also, for the first time in my life it had felt like the day was _my _birthday. Not about inviting people, not about offering cakes, looking good and getting presents. No, just being there, and letting me be, that's what he did. If I had felt like crying I know he would have let me. But with him around I didn't feel like crying.

I smile at the memory that he had caught me in my pajamas. Well, kind of. I've stopped ages ago to wear anything for bed that I couldn't also wear on the street without causing too much disorder. Partly due to the occupational hazard of being called out unexpectedly. Though unexpectedly is relative, no, my schedule I got used to, guess I just like to be prepared.

So I have a couple of coffee shops in my head that are not far away and still open. And if we don't make it there I have muffins in my rucksack. Because no way am I going to fall back on getting him a wanna-be cake from the vending machine. I guess it is a last resort, and better than nothing, but it is not going to be my last resort. I also have a flask with hot water to make coffee. I'm not going to give Mac coffee on his birthday that has gone stale from hours of sitting in a flask. Sure it would still be drinkable and it gives you the caffeine alright but I know full well that's not all that coffee is about for Mac.

Forty seconds to midnight. I get up and walk towards the room he's in. He's absorbed in gathering evidence. But he must have felt me approach, he looks up and smiles. "Is it time?" he asks. I nod and say "Happy birthday." For a moment he is quiet, remembering, "Thank you … somehow this has just made me feel like when I was a boy. My mother used to come into my room at midnight on my birthdays … and it had always made me feel like she had really wanted to have me."

I don't quite know what to say to that so I give him my present and while he unwraps it I say, "No need to hurry, we have almost twenty-four hours. But you can be sure that I am going to have a cup of coffee with you at some point today." Smiling he looks around the room, "In about an hour sound good?" I nod, "Perfect."

An hour later we leave the building. It starts to rain. Not the kind of rain that would normally warrant an umbrella but he opens it anyway. "If that's not a sign to try out your present." he says. And he discovers the card inside the umbrella. A sketch of an angel holding its wings over someone, protecting from rain. He turns it around and sees the keychain, an angel holding a heart. Maybe he'll never use it, but I don't mind because the key is the message he is reading now.

_Dear Mac, I trust you with my life, so why should I not trust you with everything else? Every rule has an exception, and you are the one for mine._

I see his eyes move as he reads. And I see his response in them and in his smile. I watch the moonlight sparkle on leaves dancing under the raindrops. It makes me smile and shiver at the same time. I guess Mac doesn't see my smile because he pulls me closer. I let him, I don't need it but it feels good. And that somehow makes me shiver a little more. Better stop or he's going to offer me his coat. He stands still and I feel his breath in my curls. His breath moving his chest.

Eventually I try to pull away but I don't get very far. Far enough though to see his eyes, exploring mine. And his smile, I don't remember having ever seen him smile like that, but I hope that I will see it again. I want to hold it in place with my hand. His hands under my rucksack, holding me close. He leans in, and …

Wait, I was supposed to make _him _happy today. Or am I …

I stop thinking. I just feel, so good. Feeling his smile on my lips.

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Thanks for reading. I really hope you liked it. Please leave a review if you did, and if you didn't, let me know where I could do better. All comments are appreciated any time, and all logged reviews replied to.


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